After abdominal surgery it is necessary for the gastrointestinal tract to be evactuated in order to relieve the stress on the patient and permit the tract to heal. Consequently, a percutaneous tube is sutured in a gastrostomy leading from the stomach or intestine to a collecting bag adjacent the patient. In such procedures, the patient must also be fed or given medication directly through his gastrointestinal tract since normal feeding is not possible. In order to do this the bag is removed, and the food or medication is inserted directly into the proximal end of the percutaneous tube. However, such a system presents a number of apparent disadvantages.
As illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,057,065, a gastrointestinal tube is known which is provided at its proximal end with one or two lumens through which liquids may be introduced to effect decompression of the stomach or intestine simultaneously with the introduction of the tube into the body. The function here is only to facilitate entry of the tube, and once the tube is sutured in place in the gastrostomy tube, the proximal opening is connected in the usual manner to the bag.
The tube has to be frequently opened to remove the bag, and thus, potentional infection is always present. In addition, there is no provision for the escape of air, and the build-up of pressure from gas in the system causes pain and vomiting in the patient as well as the inability of the patient to tolerate feeding through the tube. Still further, accumulated fluids and food which the patient cannot absorb into his system normally or which are unable to travel from the stomach into and through the small intestine must be removed through the tube. Since the same tube is used for all these functions, it is most difficult to switch from mode to mode, and time is lost between evacuation and medication for example.
There exists, therefore, a need for an extracorporeal auxilliary gastrointestinal device which does not have such disadvantages and which simplifies the treatment of postoperative patients of the described type. The present invention fulfills such a need.